Remnants of an Age
by Jayie The Hufflepuff
Summary: Follow the story of Honeyleaf and Swallowflight. A Warriors fanfiction.
1. The End of SkyClan

Honeyleaf trotted silently through the forest, grief and anger coursing through her veins. She couldn't believe that she wasn't a Clan cat anymore. All too clearly she remembered the battle with the rats. The way the rats had poured out of the barn like a huge furry river. The feel of claws tearing through her pelt and teeth biting down on her tail. The sound of Spiderstar ordering them to retreat. The hollow, empty feeling in her belly when she realized that SkyClan was gone forever.

The feeling was still there, despair mingled with shock. She couldn't take it in. The Clan she'd defended for moons, the Clanmates she had lived with and loved, the Warrior Code she had followed through the hardest paths... all of it was gone. She was nothing more then a loner now, doomed to roam the forest alone for the rest of her life.

Well, not entirely alone. Honeyleaf cast a quick glance at the cat who padded beside her. Swallowflight had once been her Clanmate, a cat to stand beside in battle and hunt with in peace. But now he was just another loner, her only companion in all the moons to come.

She sighed, pressing on relentlessly. Neither cat spoke as they hurried through the forest. There was nothing to say to one another that wouldn't bring on painful memories of Clan life. After what seemed like nine lifetimes, Honeyleaf spotted a hole in the ground. She motioned her tail for Swallowflight to wait, she padded closer and gave it a sniff..

"Hey Swallowflight, I think I found a good den." Honeyleaf called.

The tall black tom padded forward, sniffing the hole cautiously. "Urgh!" He curled back his lip. "Fox scent!"

Honeyleaf mewed impatiently, "But it's faint. There haven't been any foxes here for a while. At any rate, it should be large enough for both of us."

Swallowflight shrugged. "I guess." He slipped silently into the hole, and Honeyleaf followed, her whiskers twitching with annoyance at Swallowflight's indifferent response. At first, it was too dark for her to see anything. She crept down the steep tunnel walls, digging her claws into the walls to keep from falling straight in. After a few seconds, the wall ended, and she fell onto the ground. Once her eyes adjusted, she saw that she was in a small den, only large enough for about four cats to squish in.

It was small, yet it had a kind of homey feel to it. It reminded of her of the caves back at the SkyClan camps. She turned to Swallowflight, who had landed beside her. "What do you think?"

He nodded slowly. "Yeah, I guess it's better then nothing." Without another word, he curled up on the dusty ground, his back turned to her. Honeyleaf glared at his still form for a moment. His indifference stung, especially after the events of today. Well, there was nothing to be done about that now. With a sigh, Honeyleaf curled up next to her former Clanmate, soon falling prey to a dark and fitful sleep.


	2. A New Home

Honeyleaf's eyes flashed open. She was in the old fox den, laying next to Swallowflight. It was morning, and sunlight was filtering into the den. She got to her paws, then leaped up, climbing the wall until she reached the surface. She immediately saw that the forest was bursting with life that day. Birds were singing, mice scurried from bush to bush, and squirrels chattered high up in the trees. Honeyleaf licked her lips, her stomach rumbling loudly. It had been ages since any cat in SkyClan'd had a decent meal.  
In no time at all, Honeyleaf managed to catch two squirrels. She burried them near the roots of a large oak, then resumed her hunting. It wasn't long before she spotted a cardinal pecking at the ground, not noticing it's pursuer. Honeyleaf crouched down, ready to leap at the bird, when she heard a high-pitched squeak. She spun around, her fur fluffed up in horror. _The rats are back!_, she thought wildly.  
A few moments later, a mouse scurried past, squeaking loudly. Honeyleaf forced her fur to lie flat. She was being paranoid, that's all. Even so, horrid images from the battle flashed through her mind. Long, cruel fangs. Beady black eyes that gleamed with evil. Thousands and thousands of small brown bodies swarming over her and her Clanmates, clawing, biting, killing. She would never forget that battle in all her days.  
The cardinal was gone, but she managed to bring down a blue jay and two more mice before the sun set. She took her prey with her to the den and tossed it down into the den. She leaped down into the den, landing neatly on her paws. Swallowflight opened his eyes, blinking groggily. "What's all this?" He asked, looking at the prey.  
Honeyleaf mewed brightly, "I caught us some dinner. The prey around here practically falls into your paws."  
Swallowflight glared at her. "Thanks, but I can catch my own prey." He leaped out of the den, leaving Honeyleaf staring after him with fury in her eyes. The nerve of him! Her good mood had vanished entirely, like dew in the sun. She laid down near the blye jay and tore into it, her tail twitching irritably.  
Swallowflight soon returned to the den with a huge squirrel clamped firmly between his jaws. He laid down without a word and began to eat the squirrel, not sparing Honeyleaf a glance. She held back all angry retorts and said instead, "Well, we've found a good den, and there's plenty of prey around here. Why don't we make this our home?"  
The black tom shrugged. "I guess so." He looked around at the den critically. "I suppose we won't find any place better."  
Honeyleaf lost her patience. "What's your problem? I found us a home and loads of prey, and yet all you do is complain!"  
Swallowflight snapped, "None of your business!" He turned from her and curled into a ball.  
Honeyleaf glared at him. "Swallowflight!" But the black tom didn't respond. Fuming, Honeyleaf curled up next to her former Clanmate. _StarClan,_ she thought, _Grant me the patience to live with this mousebrain!_


	3. Painful Memories

Swallowflight stalked silently between two bushes, his amber eyes fixed on a large yellow finch. In the blink of an eye, he leaped through the air in a perfect arch, his front paws landing neatly on the bird's back. He killed the finch with a swift back to the back of the neck, feeling it got limp in his jaws. This was his fourth catch that day; Honeyleaf had been right about the prey supply around here.  
He curled his leaf. Stupid Honeyleaf. She'd been upset enough when Spiderstar had told them Clan life was over, and she'd been furious when Frostclaw said she wanted to be a kittypet, and yet here she was, seeming completely happy with the life of a loner. Didn't she realize how much they'd lost? SkyClan, Sunpelt, Fallensnow...  
_Fallensnow._Just thinking her name cut into Swallowflight's heart. The gentle white she-cat had been Swallowflight's mate. And now, because of the rats, she was gone.  
Swallowflight remembered seeing her bloody, broken body lying limply in a pool of blood. He remembered feeling like the entire world had frozen around him as he'd stared at her still form in horror.  
The sight of her lifeless form had killed something inside of him. He'd lost any joy he'd once had. For a moment, grief for his lost love threatened to overwhelm him, and he let out a shaky breath, digging his claws into the ground.  
The cry of a sparrow startled Swallowflight out of his thoughts. He let out a sigh, then picked up the finch and walked back to the rest of his catch. He grabbed the rest of his prey and headed back to the den. The black tom hesitated at the entrance. He didn't want to see Honeyleaf again. She'd just remind him of what he'd lost. When he'd decided to leave SkyClan with Honeyleaf, he'd thought that it would help to have another cat around. But now he knew that it was too painful.  
The black tom hesitated, then turned away from the den, starting back off into the forest. _Sorry Honeyleaf. You'll be better off without me anyway._  
Suddenly, Honeyleaf came trotting out of the forest, two sparrows in her jaws. She dropped them and grinned at Swallowflight, oblivious to his dark mood. "Where've you been?"  
Swallowflight glared at her. "Hunting. What's it to you?"  
He started to walk past her, but she block him, eyes shining with excitement. "Wait, there's something I want to ask you."  
Swallowflight lashed his tail in annoyance. "What?"  
The ginger she-cat mewed excitedly, "Will you help me rebuild SkyClan?"


	4. Silent Vows

Swallowflight stared blankly at the ginger she-cat, sure that he'd misheard. "What?"  
Honeyleaf, excitement shining in her eyes, repeated, "I want to rebuild SkyClan."  
The long-legged black tom gaped at her. "Have you got bees in your brain? SkyClan disbanded for a reason. Our lives as warriors are over."  
She looked at him with a mixture of annoyance and surprise. "SkyClan disbanded because the rats were stealing all of our prey," she mewed dismissively. "But we've found a place with enough prey to feed a dozen Clans."  
Swallowflight glared at the she-cat incredulously. "Did you even hear what I just said?" He demanded, the fur on the back of his neck rising ominously. "Read my lips. SkyClan. Is. Dead. We're not warriors anymore, and we never will be again. Get that through that thick ginger skull of yours."  
He realized that he'd spoken far more fiercly then he'd meant to, but that didn't stop his fur from standing on end as he stalked furiously past Honeyleaf into the den. As he curled up in a furry black ball, he felt anger churning through his blood. _Doesn't she understand? The warrior code has failed! It failed us, it failed our Clan, it failed Fallensnow! If the warrior code, if_StarClan _couldn't protect her, then why should we honor them?_ Grief for the beautiful white she-cat crashed over him, and he let out a low moan. _I'm sorry, Fallensnow. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you._  
_I'm so sorry..._

Honeyleaf stared after the black tom, shock in her eyes. She'd been stunned by her former Clanmate's reaction. Didn't he understand how important the warrior code was to her? Spiderstar had turned his back on the warrior code when he'd disbanded SkyClan; that had shattered Honeyleaf.  
All she had left to hold onto was the certainty that StarClan was watching over her. It was in honor of her fallen Clanmates, of Sunpelt and Fallensnow, and of every other SkyClan warrior who had died to defend their territory, that she planned to try to restore the warrior code.  
The ginger she-cat slipped into the den, curling up several foxlengths away from Swallowflight. _Doesn't he understand? SkyClan will _never_ die. Not while I'm around._


End file.
